Catherine Brett, MD, MPH, FACPM
Chair, ACPM Membership Committee
Since becoming an ACPM Fellow in 2024, I’ve had the pleasure of sitting on the committee that reviews Fellowship applications, and each year I’ve been reminded that there’s no single template for a Fellow. Some are decades into their careers. Others earned the designation not long after residency. Some have spent their careers in uniform, others in classrooms, others in industry or in clinics serving the most underserved patients we have. What ties Fellows together isn’t a job title — It’s a sustained pattern of showing up for this specialty and for the people it serves.
I think that’s worth saying out loud, because when members ask me whether they’re “Fellow’s material,” they’re often picturing someone very specific and assuming they don’t match. The truth is more encouraging.
Take our Class of 2026 — some built their careers in military medicine, leading public health efforts across the Army and Navy. Others found their path through global health, spending years in community clinics abroad or building programs to serve migrant and underserved populations at home. Several worked pharmaceutical medicine, applying their preventive medicine training to drug safety and clinical trials. Others chose careers in academic medicine, building lifestyle medicine clinics, running residency programs or advancing research on maternal health, chronic disease and health equity.
Each of these paths is unique, and that’s the point. Fellowship recognizes contribution and engagement in whatever form they take. Preventive medicine is a diverse field, and our Fellows reflect this diversity.
As someone who went through the process just a few years ago, I can say first-hand that Fellowship changed how I saw my own place in this field. It wasn’t just a line added to my credentials. It was a peer group vouching for the work I’d done, and an invitation into rooms where I could help shape what comes next for the College and the specialty. That part is easy to undersell in a list of benefits, but it may be the most valuable.
If you’ve been a full ACPM Member for at least three years, hold current board certification and have been building your record of engagement and contribution, I’d encourage you to look seriously at applying. The process is simple, and you can learn more here or by emailing the ACPM team at membership@acpm.org.
Applications for the 2027 Fellow class are open now through September 8. If you’ve been meaning to apply, consider this your nudge. And if you’re not sure where you stand, reach out. Chances are, you’re closer than you think.
